Together in Solitude
by wanderlustandwine
Summary: Remus Lupin had a non-existent love life. Until he was hit by a car. Suddenly, he discovered that he could see Sirius Black, the ghost who had been haunting his apartment for the past thirteen years. Remus/Sirius AU
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The road to happiness has cars**

It was 1 a.m. and Remus was not back yet. Sirius Black was beginning to worry. It was completely stupid of course, maybe he had finally hooked up with someone or was having a late night at the bar. Still, it was very unlike Remus to come in late before a working day.

Sirius stroked Benjy and continued to watch the reality show re-runs. Television was the only thing keeping him from being bored to death. Well not to death, that wasn't possible anymore. He could not imagine what ghosts had done before the invention of the TV. They had probably read books or something, Sirius shuddered. How awful. Maybe that's why they used to rattle chains and bang doors, they had nothing better to do.

Sirius hoped that the calls had finally stopped coming and he got up to put the phone back on the hook. Peter, Remus' best friend, had left multiple messages a couple of hours earlier. That puzzled Sirius, as Remus didn't have any other close friends. If he wasn't out with Peter, where was he?

* * *

**18 hours earlier**

He was going to do it. Today he was going to make the leap that all those books and magazines said you had to. Remus Lupin repeated this mantra over and over again as he brushed his teeth. Over the weekend he had been gathering every ounce of courage he possessed and now he was completely ready to ask Fabian out.

Benjamin, his ill-tempered cat brushed against him to remind him that he was hungry and Remus could partake in all his life-changing decisions once he had his daily bowl of Friskies.

"Benjy, I'm ready. Today is the day."

"Mrow". Remus took that as a sign of support.

Remus opened up his wardrobe and pulled out his red dress shirt. Nope, not his usual greys or blues. GQ said that the colour red evoked emotion and symbolized passion.

While he was pouring out his cereal, his Aunt Betsy called. "Happy Birthday Pumpkin!", she squealed. "It's not every day a young man turns twenty six!"

"Thank you, Aunt Betsy", Remus said through his mouth full of cereal. "How is Junior doing?"

"Oh he is just growing up so fast! Here let me give him the phone.."

Yes, today was his twenty-sixth birthday and life could not be flying by any quicker. In fact, the last four years of his life felt like one long endless year filled with meetings and budgeting and long hours. He could remember his last birthday as clearly as yesterday. His parents had parceled over a large cake and Pete had taken him to a ratty old bar where he drank too much. Fast-forward a year and he could barely find any memorable events in between. Well, except for the last Friday. And it was last Friday that he was taking as a sign. A sign that things were going to change and he was going to make those changes happen.

"Well thank you for calling Aunt Betsy. I better hurry or I'm going to be late for work. I miss you!".

* * *

Remus Lupin worked at a bank. Opposite Remus and two seats to the left sat Fabian Prewett, someone Remus had been crushing on for almost two years. Fabian was charming, hilarious and ridiculously good-looking, which is why Remus always switched on his "aloof mode" whenever he was around. There was no way that Fabian would ever be interested in him and so there was really no point feeding his ego, even if Fabian wasn't really the ego-centric sort.

Still, he and Fabian spoke in the elevator and during lunch and then, the previous Friday, during the "Monthly Office Birthday Bash", they had both gotten drunk and ended up making out in a bathroom cubicle.

It was not exactly a deeply passionate and romantic night but it had been the most action that Remus had gotten in almost a year. And it was with someone that Remus could see a potential future with. His last hook-up had been with a guy named Jeff, who had called him Raymond and had left before he had woken up. So yes, Remus was going to take this thing with Fabian, whatever it was, as a sign to get things going in the love life department.

Remus spent the first half of his day taking multiple bathroom breaks to hyperventilate and at around 2 p.m., he walked over to Fabian.

"Um hey, could I speak to you in the pantry for a moment?", Remus blurted out in a garbled and extremely unsophisticated fashion.

"I'm sorry?", said Fabian. Apparently his smooth words were not clear enough.

"Pantry. Talk. Um."

Fabian's eyes flickered with some sort of recognition and he walked over to the pantry.

"About last Friday..", began Remus.

"Oh God yes, Remus look, I think we should just forget about it. Don't worry, I won't tell anybody you're gay, if you're not out yet".

What? "I've been out for a long time. This isn't about that"

"Oh", Fabian looked confused, "Well you never talk about anyone special or bring up your love life at all, so I just assumed.."

The conversation was not at all going as planned. "Fabian, would you like to have dinner with me tonight? It's my birthday and I totally understand if you're busy, we can do it next week or something but it would be really great if you could join me tonight. We could leave after work.".

"Um, Happy Birthday! I uh didn't know it was today..", Fabian paused, looking very awkward and Remus knew what that meant.

"Remus, you're a great guy. One of the nicest people I know in the office. But I just got out of a total nightmare of a relationship and last Friday I saw pictures of him with his new boyfriend all over Facebook and I dunno, fuck, I just wanted to forget. And I always knew you thought I was attractive, I mean I've felt the looks. I was piss drunk and wanted revenge and that's why I kissed you. I'm sorry, it was a mistake and I don't think I'm ready to date anyone anytime soon."

Of all the shitty birthdays he had had, this one topped the list.

* * *

Remus Lupin left work at 7 p.m. He had spent the last few hours alternating between kicking himself in the head and feeling utterly miserable. He supposed he had had worse birthdays, there was the time he had the flu. But even that memory could not be as painful as this one.

He switched his laptop bag in hand and began to cross the road, too lost in his thoughts to notice the car driving towards him-.

* * *

**A/N: Hello! I haven't written in years and I've finally decided to jump back on the boat. This is a slash story so don't read it if that's something you don't enjoy! Also, please review! It's one click away :) I will really appreciate it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: A ghostly encounter**

* * *

Remus Lupin heard voices, but could not make out what they were saying. He slowly opened his eyes, to find everything was blurry.

"-living alone with no one to watch over him. John, I just can't bear it. I'm moving in with him. At least until he gets better."

THAT woke Remus up. He blinked as his eyes slowly adjusted to the bright lights. He was lying on a bed in a very white room. His head felt heavy and he could feel it slightly throbbing. He felt a weight on his right arm, and looked down to find his arm and shoulder in a cast. As he looked up, he saw his mum and dad sitting on two plastic chairs. He tried to say something, but his throat was dry and he ended up coughing.

"He's up!", his mum cried out and Remus' face was smooshed into his mum's chest. "What's going on?", he tried to ask.

His mum smoothed his hair back and looked at him, eyes full of tears. He began to panic, how long had he been out? He was in a hospital, he had gauged that. The last thing he could remember was sitting at his office desk. How long ago had that been?

His dad came over and patted his shoulder. "Remus, there's nothing to worry about. There was a small accident, but it's all fine now." An accident? He vaguely remembered bright lights and someone shouting...

His dad had called the doctor in and she was looking through his chart. "Remus Lupin, you're up and about! I'm Dr. Lawrence.", she said cheerily.

"Erm, yes." Remus was trying to move his feet and felt them rustle the bed sheets. His level of panic was slowly dropping. He wasn't paralyzed and his parents looked about the same age, so there was no 'ten year coma situation'.

"You've been very lucky, Mr. Lupin. There was a severe impact to your head. However, our scans indicated no brain damage. Now that you are awake, you will have to undergo further tests to screen out any possible issues due to the trauma. You also fractured your right shoulder and two left ribs..."

Remus felt sick. He remembered the car now and watching its headlights get brighter and brighter. He could have died, and he had not felt his life flash before his eyes or anything of the sort. He was suddenly very glad that his parents were here, it made him feel less scared and alone.

* * *

Dr. Lawrence said he would have to return in four days for a check-up and handed him a prescription for a hundred(or so it seemed) painkillers.

As they took the lift to the hospital pharmacy, Remus couldn't help staring at a small little girl in the corner of the lift. She was huddled up and looked very sad. There was an odd blue tinge to her skin. She definitely should not have been there alone. Remus wondered where her parents were...

* * *

After he was discharged from the hospital, his parents dropped him home. His mum bustled about the flat, tiding up the place and his dad sat down on the couch, looking thoughtful. Remus, himself, had never been so happy to be home. He surveyed his tiny flat and felt a surge of relief. He hated hospitals and the strong 'medicine-y' smell they always had. After spending the past couple of days in the uncomfortable bed at the hospital, he was incredibly happy to be home.

"I'll just put this in my bedroom..." he said, as he picked up the plastic bag with all his belongings from the crash. He walked into his bedroom and immediately dropped the bag on the floor.

There was someone sprawled across his bed, petting Benjy and reading his latest GQ magazine.

"What the fuck? Who the hell are you? Mum! Dad!"

The stranger on his bed got up and looked just as shocked as he was feeling. He was tall, with dark black hair and had the weird pale aura about him. The same as the girl in the lift.

His mum ran into the room, a spatula in her hand and grabbed his hand in concern, "Is everything okay, Remus?"

What? "Mum!" he said, gesturing wildly at the guy. This was not a good plan since he ended up bending over in pain, from accidentally moving his shoulder.

"Oh no, is the pain medication wearing off already? Dr. Lawrence said it would last a few more hours. Let me get the prescription..." his mum said, leaving the room.

The guy was running his fingers through his hair and gaping at Remus. Remus gaped back.

"Err hi, can you hear me?" the guy asked uncertainly, his voice coarse.

"Huh? Excuse me but I think you're in the wrong place. How did you... did Pete let you in?" Remus fumbled. Peter had Remus' extra key, to be used in cases of emergencies. Remus had noticed that Benjy's bowl in the kitchen had been full of cat food. He was grateful that Pete had taken the time to feed him while he was hospitalized. Pete had mostly used his spare key to play Remus' Xbox and raid his refrigerator when Remus was working late. However, Remus was pretty certain that Peter would not allow a stranger to crash at his place without asking his permission. The only possibility was that the stranger had broken in.

But the guy did not look like he was in the middle of robbing his flat. Instead, he had looked rather at home. He was currently muttering to himself and Remus was beginning to get annoyed. "I'm sorry, could you please explain why you're here? Do I need to call the police?", Remus asked him. The guy shook his head and began walking towards Remus. Whoa, Remus took a few steps back and yelled out, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

But he continued towards him and put his hands of Remus' chest. His touch was light and very cold, Remus could feel the chill seeping through the thin hospital shirt he was wearing. He looked up at Remus and Remus found himself staring back into pale grey eyes. "Can you feel this?", he asked, looking at Remus with an indeterminable expression.

Mental. Completely mental. Remus pushed his hands away and glared at him, "Who the hell do you think you are? Look Mister.."

"Sirius. My name was..is Sirius Black.", the guy replied. Sirius Black, the name sounded oddly familiar. It was an unusual name, and Remus felt like he had heard it before.

"Do I know you from somewhere?", Remus asked.

'Well..", Sirius was cut off by Remus' mum walking in.

"Sorry, I was just sorting out the tablets..", she said, "Remus, come into the living room, would you? You can take the medicine there, your Father and I need to talk to you."

There was something very odd here. "Mum, maybe we should get this stranger out of here?", Remus asked, completely confused. He had assumed that his Mum had somehow not seen Sirius before, but how could she not acknowledge him when he was standing right in front of her?

"I'm sorry Remus?", his mum shook her head, "I don't understand."

"This guy standing RIGHT HERE, Mum!", Remus yelled. Something very odd was at work here. He was starting to panic.

His mum looked utterly confused and a little bit worried. "Remus..", she said, putting her hand at the back of his neck, "I really don't understand, what are you talking about?"

And just like that, Sirius was gone. "What the..", Remus gasped. He had literally vanished into thin air.

Meanwhile, his mum was rubbing the back of his neck in concern. "I.. Remus. let's go sit down. I think you might need a drink of water."

Or something stronger, Remus thought in disbelief.

* * *

Remus was too distracted by the absurd events that had just occurred to pay attention to what his father was saying. But the moment he heard the words "Bertha Jorkins", he groaned.

'Dad, not again, please", Remus begged. Bertha Jorkins was the daughter of the Lupin's long time neighbours, the Jorkins. She was a perfectly nice girl, well, that was the problem really. His dad kept trying to set him up with her, despite Remus' insistence that he would never be interested. His dad had never been totally okay with the fact that he had a gay son. Remus tried not to feel hurt by it, he knew his dad loved him and only meant well.

His mum let out a sigh of exasperation and interrupted, "Remus, we just want you to be happy. We couldn't care less if you found that happiness with a man or a woman. It's just that, well..", and to Remus' horror, his mum began tearing up, "Remus, the accident report said that the driver claimed you jumped in front of the car. Of course, we know it's all rubbish, but to hear those words..", she began to sob.

Oh no, Remus tried to hug his mum with his one hand, "Mum, that's absurd. I love my job, I have so many friends..", but even as Remus comforted his mum, he felt rather sad inside. Of course, he wasn't suicidal or anything, but while walking back from work that day he had felt incredibly low..

Remus' life had not turned out like he had imagined. At the age of twenty-six, he had always thought he would have everything figured out. Somewhere in the midst of starting his first job. paying his own bills and working long hours, he had lost any form of a social life. Of course, he had Peter, but Pete was in a long-term relationship and he saw less and less of him. Last year, Pete had gotten engaged and that had been the end of their weekly night outs.

With Peter in a relationship, Remus began to search for one too, but found it impossible to meet someone. He had ruled out clubs and the drunken hook-ups they resulted in and had tried his hand at bars. But his inherent shyness prevented him from making any advances and the few guys that did hit on him were too drunk to have a proper conversation with.

So Remus kept to himself and spent most of his evenings making a nice warm meal-for-one and watching one of the many soaps on TV. It was pretty lonely but as the months passed, he got used to it. However, the constant questions from his parents and relatives kept reminding him there was apparently something wrong with the way he lived his life.

* * *

After repeatedly assuring his parents that he was fine, Remus finally got them to leave.

"Remember there are ten egg sandwiches and a mushroom casserole in the fridge! Remus darling, are you sure you don't want me to stay?", his mum asked. She had insisted that she take a month off from work to help him out, but he knew how busy her schedule was and for some reason, he really needed to be with his thoughts.

Before leaving, his mum brought up the incident in his bedroom. But Remus brushed it off, saying he had probably seen something else from the corner of his eye. A part of him wanted him to spill the beans, considering seeing people that were not there was a clear indicator of some sort of brain damage. However, Remus did not need his mum panicking more than she already was. There were too many things going through his head and he had boxed up the encounter as something he was going to deal with later. Besides, he had mentally written off the incident to a lack of sleep.

When Remus walked back into his bedroom, he found only Benjy, sitting on his bed. Benjy began rubbing all over him, unusually friendly. "Aww, you missed me didn't you...", Remus said, petting him affectionately. Benjy climbed up on his belly and made himself comfortable.

He snuck under the covers, carefully minding his shoulder, and went to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter :) I'm still setting the stage, so all the good stuff is yet to come! Please PLEASE REVIEW, it makes my day! Thank you so much to all those who did :D ****To answer Bottlebrush's question, Yes, the cat can see Sirius. I always thought cats were weird that way, mine goes running around at midnight, for no apparent reason. So who knows what they see!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: A professional opinion**

* * *

Remus was having the strangest dream. He was walking down a crowded London street, but the people surrounding him felt more like fuzzy photographs than real people. None of them were paying any attention to him and they all kept moving forward towards a grey building in the distance. It was dark and the street was lit with a faint orange light. Remus tried to check the time on his watch, but found that he was wearing none. A sense of urgency beginning to grow within him and he began to quicken his pace. As he drew closer to the grey building, he realized it was a giant elevator. There was a tiny little man standing next to it, who looked up at him and asked, "Which floor?"

Remus couldn't breathe anymore. He reached out to press the elevator button, gasping for breath, but the button would not light up. The little man was shaking his head and gently moved Remus' hands away. "Not yet, not yet..." said the little man. He raised his hand and touched his palm against Remus' chest. Suddenly, Remus felt himself being pulled back with a powerful force. As he was pulled backwards, a loud alarm began to ring. The siren grew louder and louder until -

"Drrrrrrrrrrrringgggggggggg"

Remus slammed his hand around trying to stop the god-awful sound. After a few minutes of repeated fuddling, he realized it was the doorbell. He stumbled out of bed, earning an angry hiss from Benjy who had been sleeping on his stomach. The floor was ice cold and Remus winced as he ran to answer the door.

'Remus!" Open up!"

He opened the door to find Peter standing there with a brown paper bag. "Remus! Wow, you look like shit."

"Thanks Pete", said Remus as he took the bag from Peter. He quickly glanced in his hallway mirror to confirm that indeed, he did look like crap. His eyes were puffy from having slept too long and his hair stuck out in a hundred different directions.

"I brought you some of my famous chicken soup," Pete said proudly, as Remus began unpacking the bag. The soup did smell delicious and Remus' stomach grumbled in anticipation. Benjamin seemed to have smelt the soup as well as he came meowing into the room, tangling himself around Remus' legs.

"Ah, Benjy you're alive! Hehe, guess you're fat enough that a few days without food wouldn't have killed you.", Peter said, leaning down to pet him. But Benjy moved his head out of the way and glared at Peter, before skulking away. "Hmm, touchy cat." said Peter.

Wait a minute, thought Remus. He clearly remembered Benjy's bowl being full when he had gotten back from the hospital. And Benjy wasn't one to leave his food bowl empty for more than a few hours.

"Pete, are you saying that you forgot to feed Benjy?"

Peter looked a little guilty and mumbled something about work and Remus shook his head in confusion. Weird.

Remus and Peter settled on the dining table and Remus dug into the soup, which really did taste quite good. Peter began talking about the office and the shock that Remus' accident had caused.

"It was pretty crazy. Rufus was the one who called the ambulance. He was right behind you when you were leaving and saw the whole thing happen. Said you were walking across the pedestrian and this driver comes zooming, way over the speed limit.. He was pretty shaken up."

Remus shuddered at the thought of the car rushing towards him. He preferred not to think about the actual accident at all.

"Anyway," Pete continued, "We were told you'll be out for a month so the team has been assigned more work than usual. Lockhart is complaining, what else is new, but everyone else is just very concerned. We were planning to visit you in the hospital but I guess we'll be coming over here to see how you're doing."

Nice as the gesture would be, Remus would have to clean his apartment, one armed and rib-sprained. Fun, he thought to himself.

"Fabian was probably the most worried. He kept bugging Rufus for details and was going to visit the hospital the next day, except you were still out cold. He asked me for your number and I'm pretty sure he wants to come over and see how you're doing. Seemed like he was guilty or something, although that wouldn't make any sense, would it?" Peter said, giving Remus a curious look.

Remus shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "No idea, Pete. Hey, how about some coffee?"

Peter agreed to have some coffee, pretending not to notice the obvious change of topic. Remus shuffled to the kitchen and switched on his kettle. His head felt fuzzy from a lack of sleep. It probably had something to do with the painkillers as well, he reasoned. He reached up to open his cupboard and cringed in pain. "Ow", he cried out as his ribs throbbed in pain. He would have to be more careful with his movements over the next month.

"Let me get that for you." said a soft voice. Remus jaw dropped as the stranger from the day before pulled out his box of tablets and jar of coffee, and placed them down. What was his name? Sirius?

"You again!" he yelled out.

"Shh", Sirius shushed him, but it was too late. Peter looked over and called over, "You said something Remus?"

"Peter, please tell me you can see this man standing here", Remus pleaded. But Peter gave no inclination that he could see Sirius. "I..." Remus was at a loss for words. He was losing his mind.

"He won't be able to see me Remus. No one else can.", Sirius looked saddened as he spoke these words. And there was something very wrong with the way he addressed Remus. He said Remus' name intimately, like he knew him. Remus looked at Sirius, really looked at him and noticed things he had missed the day before. Sirius' hair was dark black, ruffled up in a style that looked ten years too old, and he wore a leather jacket.

"They can't see me because I'm a ghost. I need you to understand this. I've been here for a long time and can prove it to you.." Sirius paused and looked over at Peter, "Maybe we should have this conversation once he leaves. Right now, all he can see is you talking to thin air."

What the fuck. Peter was looking extremely alarmed at all of this. "Remus, what's going on?" he asked.

"Pete, could you please drive me to the hospital?

* * *

The chairs in the psychiatric ward were terribly uncomfortable. Remus lifted his body with his hands and felt tremors of pain flow through his back. He had been waiting for three hours to see Dr. Dumbledore, a psychiatric specialist that came highly recommended by Dr. Lawrence. "He specializes in mental disorders, especially cases like your own. He's incredible and has one of the highest success rates in his field." she had gushed.

Unfortunately, being one of the best doctors in his field meant that Dr. Albus Dumbledore was fully booked for the next month. But Dr. Lawrence seemed to have taken a liking to Remus and after speaking to the receptionist, had managed to squeeze him in for a session three hours later. Remus had contemplated going back home but the prospect of seeing "Sirius Black - the friendly ghost" was not particularly appealing.

Yet after three hours of sitting on the horribly uncomfortable chair, having to eat hospital food and watch the news on mute, he was feeling more delusional than ever. He put his head between his knees and let out a small groan.

It was while Remus had his head between his knees and was groaning softly to himself that he felt a small tap on his shoulders. He straightened up and found himself looking at the oddest looking man he had ever seen.

"Hello! I am Dr. Dumbledore. The nurse informed me that you've been waiting for several hours to see me. I'm terribly sorry for the delay. You can call me Dumbledore or Albus or Gandalf, if you wish. Although my beard has been inspired by Merlin, another famous wizard." Dumbledore said.

"Err, right. Remus Lupin.", Remus stuttered, "Pleased to meet you." He shook Dumbledore' hand. Dumbledore smiled and nodded, "Ah yes, Dr. Lawrence mentioned you. Let's have a little chat in my office, shall we? Follow me."

Remus followed Dumbledore as he twisted and turned though the psychiatric wing. Hospitals were terribly confusing that way. The walls were always stark white and all the corridors looked the same. Remus hurried to keep up with Dumbledore, lest he get lost. For a man of his age, an age that would be pretty old judging by the length and colour of his magnificent beard, Dumbledore was pretty quick on his feet.

They finally arrived at his office. Albus Dumbledore's office felt more like a museum that a shrink's room. The walls were covered with expensive looking paintings and his desk was adorned with random ornaments and curios.

"I like to travel." he explained, as Remus looked around admirably.

"Please have a seat Remus, no not on the couch. Grab a chair"

Remus sat down opposite Dumbledore on a plush cushion-y chair that was immensely comfortable. His bum praised the heavens.

'Lemon drop?" Dumbledore offered. Remus took one to be polite. He popped the drop into his mouth and winced at the sour taste.

Dumbledore hmm-ed and oohed at Remus' file before closing it. He reached into his drawer and pulled out a small photo frame, which he handed to Remus. The photo was a black and white one of a pompous looking man.

"He's one of my oldest patients", said Dumbledore, with a twinkle in his eye. And to Remus utter amazement, the man in the picture appeared alongside Dumbledore. His skin was tinged blue and he grinned wildly at Remus, before grabbing his hair in his fist and pulling. His head tipped right over and hung from his neck by a thin flap of skin. Something in Remus' stomach tipped over as well, as he gagged at the sight. He grabbed a nearby paper basket in time and threw up all the earlier hospital food. The food tasted just as bad coming up as it did going down.

"Ahh", said Albus Dumbledore, beginning to smile. "You're one of us."

* * *

Remus sipped his lemon chai ("The best tea I've ever had, incredibly relaxing," Dumbledore had claimed) and tried to come to terms with the fact that he could see ghosts. "I see dead people", a voice whispered in his head. Great.

Dumbledore was still talking, waving his hands around and looking incredibly joyous. Remus tried to pay attention but his mind kept thinking something along the lines of "holy what the fuck".

"You see, Remus, I am somewhat of a specialist. A specialist when it comes to mediums. That is what you have become. A medium, a spiritual guide of sorts. I have encountered more than a hundred cases like yours in my lifetime. It seems to me, from my own understanding, that our human minds contain an unconscious connection with the dead. This connection is sometimes shaken by unruly spirits, hence the number of "ghost encounters" that are claimed. However, the ability to see all the spirits is something else. I myself was born with the ability. As are many others. In your case, it looks like your accident jolted you into another realm or plane for a few moments, nanoseconds probably. But once that part if your sub-conscious was awakened, it did not close up again."

"So, what should I do about it? How do I make it stop?" Remus sighed.

"Ah Remus, we do not choose the cards that are dealt, nor the game we find ourselves in. What matters is how we play them." Dumbledore said wisely.

"Your path may now lead you to a number of spiritual encounters. It is your job to guide these spirits to finding peace, to help them to their required plane of existence. Have you watched the show Ghost Whisperer? Excellent documentary. Some very fine examples."

Personally, Remus thought the show was formulaic nonsense, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

"Your first step is to communicate with your resident spirit. Understand his..?" Dumbledore paused.

'Yes it's a man, he says he's been around a while."

"You must get his story. That is the only way to help him find his peace. I understand that a medium's first spirit is always the hardest, but once you are successful in helping one move on, it gets easier. Also, the rewards of helping a spirit move on are indescribable. Slow steps Remus Lupin. I have faith in you. I will see you again next week." Dumbledore peered at Remus and Remus felt his uncertainty vanish. There was a kind of Mary Poppins aura that surrounded Dumbledore and made you believe that you could do anything.

* * *

"Erm, Sirus? I.. I would like to speak with you. Sorry for running away like that. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or whatever. So, um yeah. Sorry.", Remus said, standing in the middle of his living room, attempting to call Sirius.

After talking to Dumbledore, Remus had realized a number of things. The main one being that he had some kind of obligation to Sirius now, to help him move onto the other side. Also, the sooner he accepted his ghost seeing powers, the better it would be for everybody.

Unfortunately, it looked like he had scared Sirius off, since the ghost was a no show. Remus sighed and sat down on his couch. He grabbed the remote and flicked through the channels before settling on a rerun of Grey's Anatomy.

It must have been ten minutes of watching the show when suddenly Sirius materialized next to him.

"I don't get why they decided to pair those two. They were so much better off as friends.", he said.

Remus nodded in agreement, trying to stabilize his poor heart. It would definitely take some time to get used to Sirius' sudden appearances. He looked over at Sirius and gulped, because yeah, he was seeing a _ghost_. "Hi", he said.

Sirius the ghost raised his eyebrows and gave a tentative smile. "Hi", he said back.

Well, not a bad start, Remus thought. At least there weren't any cupboards shaking (a sign that the ghost is angry, Dumbledore had advised).

Sirius was looking at Remus and Remus looked back and oh no, there was an awkward silence and Remus was absolutely terrible at dealing with them. He wracked his brains and blurted out, "I saw a shrink. His name was Dumbledore and he wore a pointy hat."

Sirius' eyebrows shot up even more and Remus felt like a total idiot. "I mean," he tried to explain, " I saw a shrink, a sort-of shrink, and he told me I wasn't crazy because he has some experience dealing with ghosts himself. Sort of like a Ghostbuster, I mean shit, no, not a Ghost_buster_ but more like a ghost helper, a medium. That's right, a medium that's what he called himself. Anyway, he told me about you, about all of you, that is. Spirits. And your existence on this plane. Yeah."

Remus prayed that his verbal diarrhea had made sense and it looked like it did because Sirius looked like he might smile. Running with this positive signal, Remus asked, "So, how did you die?"

Foot in mouth, Remus!, his brain exclaimed. For a moment, even Sirius looked taken aback by Remus' brashness, but then he began to laugh.

"Straight to the point, huh? At least buy a girl a drink first."

Remus was beyond horrified and was about to launch into a huge apology before Sirius shook his head, "It's fine", he said, "That's probably the elephant in the room. Might as well get it out of the way. I died thirteen years ago, in this flat. I was murdered. I suppose you could read about it in the library archives or something. Might make this situation more acceptable if you have proof."

There were a thousand questions running through Remus' head, but he bit his tongue and tried to be tactful. Sirius may have died more than a decade ago, but that didn't mean his death wasn't a sensitive issue.

"Yes, of course. I'll look online first, and then head down to the library. Sorry if I'm not the greatest medium, you're my first, you know.", Remus said. He would try his best but the whole process seemed so abstract. Figures and numbers? Yeah, he could work with that. Helping a spirit discover it's unfinished business on the planet and then help them finish it? Not so much.

Sirius' smile had turned into a full fledged grin before he winked at Remus, "Your first, eh? I'll be gentle."

Remus gulped. "Hahaha", he laughed awkwardly. "But on a serious note, I will need to get all the information I can to help you move on. We can set up a time tomorrow and I'll get my notepad and we can take things from there." Remus hoped Sirius understood that he was sincerely committed to the job.

But apparently he had said something wrong because Sirius was frowning. "Excuse me?" Sirius said, "Move on to where?"

"To wherever you're supposed to be." Remus was confused.

Sirius looked quite affronted at this explanation. "And where exactly is that?"

"Heaven? Rebirth? Sorry I don't really know, I'm pretty new at this.", Remus replied nervously.

"Maybe I'm supposed to be here? You ever think of that?", Sirius said, looking a little pissed off.

"No, I.. I need to help you deal with your situation. That's my job."

"Yeah, well maybe you need to deal with the fact that you now have a new flat mate. Actually, scratch that, you always had me as your flat mate and it's only now that you can see me."

What the hell, thought Remus. Dumbledore had not briefed him on this part. And also, the thought of Sirius watching him for the past four years creeped him out.

"So what? You've been watching me for the past four years?"

"Yeah, it isn't like I have anything else to do. I can't leave this stupid flat. And so yeah, I've been stuck watching you. And maybe you should first work on yourself because you're life is incredibly uninteresting."

Ouch, Remus winced. Sirius seemed to realize that his remarks were below the belt and he suddenly looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Remus. I didn't mean that. It's just that I don't really want to move anywhere. I know I'm not supposed to be here and yeah, I'm mostly bored out of my mind but I'm not ready to die. Well, die-die, like forever gone from this planet, if you know what I mean."

And Remus sort of did. He remembered the rush of relief when he woke up in the hospital bed and how grateful he was that he could get back to his life, however dull it might have been. Except, all this time he had had a ghost watching his every move so maybe his life wasn't as uninteresting as he thought. The thought made his ears burn with embarrassment as he pictured all the things he did alone in his apartment, suddenly through the eyes of someone else. Oh god.

"Erm, so when you said you would watch me, did you.. did you see me talk to Benjamin? And all the times I didn't wear pants?"

Sirius laughed, "Yes, your conversations with Benjamin were always entertaining. And erm, no it wasn't _all_ the time. I tried to give you your privacy whenever you needed it." And maybe Remus' head was messing with him because he swore he could see a faint blush on Sirius' cheeks.

"Right. Thanks for that.", Remus said. He was glad they weren't arguing anymore because a part of him was still freaking out over the whole ghost-thing and his natural instinct was telling him to run and hide under his bed.

Speaking of bed, Remus yawned and realized how tired out he was. He had had a long day and needed time to process everything. He would try and help Sirius understand the moving-on business later, when he wasn't half-asleep.

"I should be getting to bed.", he said, "I've had a crazy day."

"Yes, of course. I.. I don't need to sleep so I'll be out here. I guess I'll see you tomorrow.", Sirius said, giving Remus a small smile.

"Goodnight Sirius.", Remus said. He walked over to the kitchen to get out his nighttime dose and before he could reach up Sirius was at his side. He shooed Remus' hands away and stretched over to retrieve the pills and a glass. He filled up the glass and handed Remus his dosage.

"Thank you.", said Remus, his stomach doing a weird flippy thing. Wow, that was odd, he thought to himself.

"No worries," Sirus smiled, " I've watched you catch your ribs three times while doing that. Maybe you should put the pill box in a better location."

"Good idea.", Remus gulped. "Goodnight Sirius."

Before getting back to bed, Remus locked his bedroom door. Not the most effective way of keeping a spirit out, but he didn't have any rock salt or blood or whatever those paranormal specialists on TV used. Besides, he didn't really need or want to keep Sirius out. In some odd way, he sort-of trusted Sirius. He just needed some time to get used to his new ghost flat mate. And this small gesture made him feel safer.

As he was falling asleep, he thought he heard the television being turned on, but he was probably dreaming.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hello! Sorry for the delay! I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) Please let me know what you think. Reviews are like cookies for my soul! Thank you so much to those who reviewed. Bottlebrush, Smithback, Sirus J Potter, Galgalatz, sinner vs saint, Closebutnobanana and Guest - I love you to the moon and back and promise that the next update will be very soon! **


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